Egg case cover



March 27, 1934. A. VOORDERMAN EGG CASE COVER Filed July 29, 1932 Patented Mar. 27, 1934 1,952,39

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EGG CASE COVER Arend Voerderman, Sioux Center, lowa Application July 29, 1932, Serial No. 625,729

6 Claims. (Cl. 217-56) My invention relates to a cover for egg cases ignate generally the egg case. This egg case or other similar types of containers, which can usually inclu'desthe transverse wooden strips 11. be installed without the necessity of nailing to My cover will be designated generally by the the case. character 12. This cover is made of fairly An object of my invention is to provide a metal sheet steel or other suitable material, which is 50 weather resisting cover, which can be installed suitably galvanized or coated to prct ct it from in a very short time and which is oi a maximum the elements.

strength. This cover includes the stamped out ribs 13 and A further object of my invention is to provide 14, which insure a maximum amount of strength such a cover, which cannot be jarred loose dur for the cover. 65

ing shipment of a case and which will also in- To further stiffen the cover, I provide a bentsure an absence of shock to the eggs contained back flange 15, (see Figure 7), which extends within the case. generally in the shape as shown around the pe- A further object of my invention is to provide. riineter of the cover; This feature provides for 1.5 a metal cover of sufficient strength, which will a maximum amount of stiffening where the cover 9 eliminate the necessity for a wooden cover us is applied to the case, so that there can be no ally used, which has a pronounced tendency to twisting or torsional effects, which would tend to warp and which wooden cover, in case 01' a few distort the shape of this cover. nails being loosened, will cause damage to the The flange merges, as shown, with the two eggs contained within the case. principal ribs 16. All or these ribs are merely Another object of my invention is to provide integral parts of the lid, but are pressed outa cover which insures atight fit as well as a slightwardly in a manner well known in the art, and ly overlapping fit to prevent the entrance of rain in this way, the cover retains the feature of great or sun and spoiling the quality of the eggs in the strength. 5 case. The clamps for clamping the lid to the case are A further object of my invention is to provide formed of suitably stron and heavy wire and a device, which will absorb all types ct -shock comprise the generally broadened U-shaped and which will have a tendency to automatically members 17, which include the loops is at their tighten itself on the case in the presence of vi ends. 30 bration or jars. These loops are engaged with the further clon A further object of my invention is to accoingated loops 19. (See Figure 4.) plish these various results with a construction The loops 19 are an extension of the spring eleof which is simple and easy of manufacture. nient 20, which is secured to the lid through the With these and other objects in view, my inpunched out opening at 21.

5 vention consists in the construction, arrangement, The spring element 20 is bent backwardly and a d Combination of t Various part5 of m terminates in the integral extension 22, which vice, whereby the objects contemplated are atends approximately at 23. (See Figures 3 and 6.) tained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, point- The spring wire 20 is made of'fairly high grade ed out in my claims, and illustrated in the acspring wire, which will insure a constant spring 40 companying drawing, in which: action,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an egg case with The entire spring is housed within the upstruck my type of cover attached. portions 24, which are situated in the four corners Figure 2 is an end view of the same, of the lid and which portions are flush with the Figure 3 is a bottom view of the cover with tops of all the ribs on the cover.

45 one of the clamping members extended, The spring action of the spring 20 takes place Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view of a corner within the slots 25. (See Figures 1 and 4.) The of Figure 1, inner end 23 of the spring is positioned at the end Figure 5 is a plan view of the cover on the of the slot and extends slightly outwardly so that case, showing how it is put in position with the it will not slip out of place.

5 hands, In clamping the cover to the case, first one of Figure 6 is an enlarged detail view of the the U-shaped members 17 is placed under the spring arrangement, and strip 11, then (see Figure 5) the fingers of the Figure '7 is an enlarged sectional View of part hand, as shown, are placed over the extending of the lid taken along the lines 7-? of Figure 5. loops 19, and the lower broadened part of the 55 I have used the reference character 10 to des- U-shaped member 17, which normally rests beneath or over the lid, will be drawn backwardly and allowed to drop under the other strip 11 on the other side of the case. The resulting tension due to the spring action against these members and the different angularity thus efiected, will then keep the cover firmly attached on the top of the case.

Figure 3 shows the position of the U-shaped clamping member in its normal position on the left hand side of the figure, and the right hand side of the figure shows the spring depressed and under tension with the clamping member 17 in position to be dropped underneath the strip 11 of the case.

Figure 6 also shows the two positions of the spring member and the clamping member; the solid lines showing the normal position and the dotted lines when the associated spring and clamp are pulled towards the operator.

I have found that this type of cover operates very efiiciently in preventing breakage of eggs. The usual type of wooden cover, which must be nailed in place, will generally warp and be otherwise thrown out of position, due to loosening of the nails during transportation and so forth. This releases the pressure on the eggs contained in the case, as a result they are subject to shock and damage and also to other influences such as the elements, which results in the spoilage of the eggs.

Eggs are practically always crated in the usual paper cont iners and are then padded with suitable padding at the top of the ease, and it is very essential that this padding be kept under a firm and uniform pressure. It will be seen that the lid of my construction retains its uniform strength throughout by the method of ribbing, which I have employed, and the constant spring tension exerted at the ends of the case, which cannot slip out of place due to its form, will insure a constant pressure on the upper padding of the egg cases and will eliminate the feature of breakage and the other faults mentioned here before.

It will be seen also that I have devised a cover of this type which can be used generally on other types of boxes or cases and which can be installed in a very short time, thus eliminating the necessity of all the time necessary in nailing on the usual type of cover.

Furthermore vibration or shock in the usual type or" lid will gradually reduce the strength of the nailed joints, which will tend to become loosened, thus rendering the case subject to undesirable influences. Whereas in my construction, the very nature of the spring controlled elements will cause an effect of gradual tightening as the case is subject to successive shocks. There will be a tendency of the spring elements to seat themselves more firmly each time the case is subjected to a jar or vibration.

It will be also seen that I have provided for all of these features mentioned, in a construction which is simple and economical and which can be manufactured at a minimum cost.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. An egg case cover comprising a ribbed sheet metal plate, and tension means for retaining the plate on an egg case, including a pair of looped spring wire elements positioned at each end or" the plate, each loop being at a corner thereof, and U-shaped clamping members attached to the spring elements.

2. An egg case cover comprising a ribbed sheet metal plate, means for retaining the plate on an egg case, including a pair of looped spring wire elements positioned at each end of the plate, each loop being at a corner thereof, and U-shaped clamping members attached to the spring elements, and means for manually compressing the spring wire elements.

In an egg case cover, a pair of U-shaped members adapted to be retained under the upper end cleats of an egg case, and tension means attached to the U-shaped members and the cover, including looped spring wire elements, including outwardly extending portions to be grasped by the fore-fingers of the hand when the lid is to be clamped to a case.

l. An egg case cover comprising a sheet metal plate, means for retaining the plate on an egg case under tension including tension means attached to the corners of the plate, and U shaped clamping members attached to the tension means.

5. An egg case cover comprising a cover plate, means for retaining the plate on an egg case un der tension including tension means attached to the plate, a U shaped clamping member attached to the tension means, said tension means adapted to allow any desired angular retention of the U shaped member with respect to the plate.

6. An egg case cover plate including tension means attached thereto, means attached to the tension means adapted to be'retained under an egg case oleat, said tension means adapted to allow varying angularity of the cleat retention means to allow retention beneath varying sizes of cleats.

AREND VOORDERMAN. 

